Lohengrin
Lohengrin is a fictional character in the Wild Cards series of books. History Originally, Lohengrin was an idealistic young ace from Germany. He quickly learned that most aces in his homeland were more concerned with making commercials and endorsing products than effecting any actual change in the world. Klaus himself had been no stranger to commercialism having started out his own ace career advertising dairy milk, and later becoming a poster boy for BMW. Disillusioned, he left for America where he thought to make a name for himself in the larger wild card community. While out drinking with Jonathan Hive and John Fortune, Lohengrin was present when Fortune accidentally reactivated part of his ace heritage by fusing with a powerful wild carder called Sekhmet. Dissatisfied with the shallow commercialism of the American Hero TV show and revitalized by the plight of the Egyptian jokers he set off to Egypt in pursuit of John Fortune, and accompanied by Jonathan Hive. Lohengrin and his friends did much to help evacuate jokers from Cairo, but the might of the Egyptian army pressed them continuously south along the Nile river. Even allied with the Living Gods they could do little to slow the advance, but luckily several aces from American Hero arrived to reinforce their ranks further. When the Caliph sent an army to assist his Egyptian allies, Lohengrin found himself pitted against the Righteous Djinn, an ace who contained the powers of numerous other wild carders. Although his ghost steel offered superb protection it could not prevent him from being knocked out when the Djinn effortlessly batted him aside. His distraction did, however, buy time for the others to concentrate their assault and kill the Righteous Djinn. The actions of Lohengrin and the others in Egypt concluded with the capture of Kamal Farag Aziz, the Egyptian president who had ordered the deaths of countless jokers, and who had become wanted for war crimes as a result. Upon hauling the Egyptian president to the Hague, they were all offered a role in the United Nations in a newly commissioned group known as the Committee on Extraordinary Interventions. Over the following year, Lohengrin was sent to numerous trouble spots on missions for the Committee. After John Fortune tendered his resignation, Lohengrin found himself offered the leadership of the Committee. Seldom on the front lines conducting acts of heroism, he felt out of place trying to manage and office life with a seemingly endless supply of phone calls and meetings. He relished the chance to return to the field again and personally took command of the Committee aces protecting the Paris Peace Conference when J.C. Jayewardene indicated that there would be trouble. Trouble came in the form of the Radical, and when the insane ace revealed himself he launched a solar energy beam through Lohengrin's visor, burning flesh underneath and destroying an eye. Despite his injuries, Lohengrin soon returned to his office job to resume his leadership over the Committee. During the Talas incident Lohengrin was consumed by the madness of Horrorshow, which caused him to grow to twenty feet tall and his sword and armor to turn red. He was eventually defeated by Bubbles, Tesseract and Billy Ray and returned to a semblance of normalcy, although the lingering psychological effects of his possession were devastating. Wild Card Traits Lohengrin can materialize a protective energy that manifests as a suit of glowing white armor and a variety of different weapons, including a sword, a battleaxe, and a flail. It is unknown what exactly Lohengrin's armor and weapons are made of, though the German scientists who first studied Lohengrin speculate it is a form of solidified light, or possibly ectoplasmic energy. Lohengrin simply refers to it as "Ghost Steel" Appearance Lohengrin is a tall blond man, huskily built, with bluff Germanic features, including rosy cheeks and bright blue eyes. Lohengrin's face was badly burnt in a fight with Radical in the Musee du Louvre. He also lost an eye in the fight and now covers it with a patch. Personality Lohengrin is a romantic idealist who takes ancient knightly ideals such as virtue, honor, and chivalry quite seriously. Once adrift and seeking a purpose toward which he could bend his powers, Lohengrin has finally found his calling as a member of the Committee. Selected Reading * 2008 - The Committee Trilogy * 2009 - The Committee Trilogy * 2010 - The Committee Trilogy Category:Protagonists